Tales of Late Night

What is with Kelly Ripa these days? The co-host of Good Morning America was on the Late Show with David Letterman last night, and she was wearing this v-cut dress that showed off her chest. Now normally, this would be a good thing, but for some reason she's got this skeleton chest-thing going on. It's not like she's that way all over, but just her chest, and it looked nasty!
I mean, she's gorgeous, but she really should have covered that up, for the sake of heterosexual men everywhere.

On the subject of late night, I love the Late Late Show with TV's Craig Ferguson. The guy is a trip to watch, what with his Scottish accent and his sharp wit. For those who don't know, he played Drew Carey's boss Mr. Wick on The Drew Carey Show, which I absolutely MUST buy on DVD when it comes out! Do yourself a favor and check out the show. You can just tell he likes to improvise, which is a good thing, in his case, because he's good at it.

Spoiler-free Review

Some requests have been made, and they will be honored.

I thoroughly enjoyed Revenge of the Sith. I was very impressed with it, and I think it is a major step ahead of the first two prequels. I had many gripes with The Phantom Menace, and I thought Attack of the Clones had many of the same flaws but was a great step in the right direction. Revenge of the Sith trumps them both, by far. Herein lies my spoiler-free review.

There is a definite upgrade as far as special-effect quality. The computer animation is top notch, and the interaction with real and cg is almost flawless. Yet, flaws there are. For example, the Clone Commander is a computer generated trooper, yet his head is real footage of Temeura Morrison, the actor who portrayed him. His head seems to float above the computer generated body, and it looks terrible if you watch it closely. On the other hand, Count Dooku's lightsaber fights looked seamless. In Attack of the Clones, his head seemed to glow pale, and the head clearly didn't fit the body moving below it. And cuts from the stunt double to Christopher Lee were badly done. The effect was not a success. Here, in Revenge of the Sith, it is completely seamless. It is utterly believeable that Christopher Lee is doing his own saber fighting, even though he is not. It looked so incredible! Also, another character used a stunt double to do his fighting, and it looked almost as good. As expected, all the effects are taken to the highest levels. There are new cg characters that really look great. Here's a little appetizer: a new character uses multiple lightsabers in a way that has not been done before. You'll go gaga!

This time around, I rolled my eyes scant few times. I don't remember cringing to bad dialog and/or delivery even once. Granted, there are still some goofy lines, and some dull interpretations, but it has been cut down significantly. The love scenes between Anakin and Padme are much more believeable here. More is at stake, and the actors have more reason to be more dramatic. All around the actors have finally embraced their characters and have made them believeable. I was happy that Mace Windu was better this time. The real stand-outs are Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. If ever you doubted McGregor's work as Obi Wan Kenobi, you'll cast those doubts into oblivion by the end. He is perfect. He IS Obi Wan. Contrary to some critics' description of Hayden Christensen as merely a scowl, he pours himself into the role and shines bright. It is wonderful to see him truly become a seasoned Jedi, not just a young boy. And finally, we come to the one behind all this war: Emperor Palpatine. Mr. Ian McDairmid is too perfect this time. Remembering back to his wickedly excellent portrayal of the Emperor back in Return of the Jedi, we are reminded who we are dealing with. Palpatine reeks of malevolence, and he loves every minute of it. His evil cackle is the best in the business. His performance will bring chills to your spine!

I recommend that you read the novelization after you see the movie, then see it again. It will help you understand the finer points of the story and will make the movie better the second time around.

There are scenes that allow for the complete transition to the original trilogy that will bring a nostalgic tear to your eye. Very nicely done, and they will urge you to pop in your Star Wars DVD and watch the films that began this magical journey in a galaxy far, far away....

It has been wrought

Revenge, that is.

I'm surprised that I am actually awake right now. Much sleep has been lost this past couple weeks, due to all the activity while waiting in line for the final Star Wars chapter. Having just seen the 12:01a.m. showing, I was only able to sneak in around 4 hours of sleep, and that's very little for me. After seeing Revenge, I found myself quoting the original Star Wars when I got home. See, that's a hobby of mine, quoting lines from my favorite movies, complete with actor impressions. In fact, if I recorded myself doing this, you might think you were on the set of the movie!

All joking and self-gratification aside, I am thoroughly looking forward to this Saturday. I'm going to just sleeeeeeep sleeeeeeep sleeeeeep and no one will wake me up. Ha ha to all you people who have to work weekends. That's why I love my corporate job. Weekends are just that. ENDS.

Anyways, do yourself a favor and go see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It is great. Better performances, better action, better comedy, better dialog(mostly), better drama, better atmosphere, better everything. Although it is still not quite up to snuff by Original Trilogy standards, it certainly beats the first two prequels hands down. Bravo, Mr. Lucas. Bravo.

Tonight's the night! It's coming tonight!

Revenge shall be carried out at the stroke of midnight. Actually, around 12:16 a.m.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

I shall be approximately 15th in line, according to the Fanforce staff. I have logged around 45 hours. Good times.

My boss continues to heckle me. "You do know that the movie will still be there this weekend?" As in, you don't really have to go through all that trouble to be first in line. How many times must I say it? COMRADERIE!!!!!! I like hanging out with my new friends. I like discussing Star Wars and movies in general. I like trading insults with the hecklers who think that if they spew their venom and drive away really fast, that it will somehow do more damage to us nerds. I love to say it, but all it does is eat up your fuel and make YOU look stupid. So there.

Speaking of looking stupid, just yesterday, a man driving a Land Rover was up at the front of the theater lot, and for some reason, plowed his SUV into a concrete block! Obviously we had cast a Jedi mind trick upon him, for he crunched the front passenger side quadrant of his vehicle, and even moved the concrete block almost a foot! That was a BIG BLOCK! After surveying the damage, he just picked up what debris he could hold and left. Way to go, champ!

A Special Meeting

Although I was fortunate to meet two Star Wars characters this weekend, I met a third, that will be dear to me. The gentleman in question was Luke Skywalker's friend and fellow X-Wing pilot: Biggs Darklighter. His name is Garrick Hagon. While in line to meet Dave Prowse, I noticed that nobody was in line to get Mr. Hagon's autograph. The two biggest lines in the room were for Matthew Wood, who performed the voice of General Grievous in Episode III, and of course, Darth Vader. I thought to myself, "This isn't right." I hopped right over to meet him. Since I was the only one there, I got to have a nice conversation with him. I mentioned that when I was growing up, my sisters and I would always be sad when Biggs died. We knew that Biggs and Luke were pals. They knew eachother on Tatooine. Luke looked up to him, and wanted to be like him. His character is very well known to those who love The Trilogy. His autograph resides on the top left corner of page 8 in my Star Wars Visual dictionary, the only picture of Biggs in the book, albeit a small one. I was thumbing through the book, searching for the pic, because I knew it was there, just didn't remember where. Mr. Hagon happily pointed it out to me. After all that fun, I forgot to get my picture taken with him! I had captured some video of him on my digital camera, but it just didn't occur to me to stand next to him and capture the moment. D'oh! I kicked myself afterwards for it. Literally!

To Mr. Hagon: Thank you so much for talking with me! I will always cherish the experience I had meeting you. May the Force be with you. Star Wars rules ALL!!!!!

Maul and Me

Me-and-Ray-Park
Originally uploaded by Kodiak.

Yes, none other than the vicious Darth Maul, played with yellow-eyed perfection by Mr. Ray Park. Ray is nothing near his onscreen persona. He is very polite, enthusiastic, and more than willing to connect with fans. He shook my hand not once, not twice, but thrice! A greeting shake, a "thanks for the picture" shake, and a "have a good day" shake. A really great guy, who just exudes coolness. I'm extremely glad I waited in line.

Interesting bit of Ray Park trivia: He is left handed.

The Man Behind the Mask

Me-and-Dave-Prowse
Originally uploaded by Kodiak.

This Saturday was a big day for me.

Location: Plano, Texas.
Building: Plano Centre, 2000 E. Spring Creek Pkwy.
Event: Sci-Fi Expo

For the first time, I met none other than Darth Vader Himself: David Prowse. To say I was star struck would be an understatement. It is hard to describe how it feels to meet one of the actors who brought to life the best characters the cinema has ever seen. He was awesome. I had my Star Wars Visual dictionary for him to sign and he knew exactly which page to turn to. Lord knows how many times he has signed one of those books. Definitely a Kodak moment!

Home Stretch

The day of redemption is at hand. Revenge shall be wrought. Star Wars shall be complete. Thursday, May 19. 12:01 a.m. Plano, TX, Cinemark Legacy theater. Front and center. I'll be there. Even though I have to work that day. I'll be a zombie, but so be it. At first, I didn't plan on going, what with the time of day and the packed theater, but now I will attend. I have been spending time in line outside the theater with the DFW Fanforce. I have met some very nice people and had much fun. It's all about the comraderie. All us die-hard Star Wars fans will experience the fun together. Group hug.

Spoilers allowed

Spoiler free 'till Episode III? I wish.

I just can't help but read the reviews and plot points for Revenge of the Sith. We have been forced to wait this long to see the final chapter in the Star Wars saga, and May 19th can't come fast enough. I'd love to be able to see the movie without any knowledge of what I'm about to see, but it is just too darn hard to do. I ache and yearn for every bit of Star Wars. I am itching to see the Emperor in all his vile, twisted, evil, cackling glory. I am dying to see Anakin Skywalker become the feared agent of death we first saw in A New Hope, as he towers above all others in his menacing black suit, and that mask!! Always wondering what deformed, horrible form lie within...

I wish I could have a day in the DLP projection theater to myself, and a few friends and family, to watch the entire Star Wars saga in all its glory, twice or three times. I wish I could be those characters, with real light sabers, and force powers, and blasters, and ships travelling at the speed of light, and cities in the sky, and speeder bikes, and massive space stations with the destructive capacity to annihilate an entire planet...the list is endless!

It's what drives the imagination. It's what drives us to wait in line for days on end. It's what drives us to act out our favorite scenes, believing for one moment that we are who they are, fighting for freedom in a galaxy far, far away.

Whatever stance we take on the Star Wars movies, bad or good, we must not forget that we are in debt to George Lucas. He dedicated his life to bringing these amazing stories to life for all the world to enjoy. We cannot thank him enough.

Everyone's got something to say

I did something last night I've never done before. I waited in line for a movie that's not even out yet. Perplexed? Read on.

Up at the Cinemark Legacy theater in Plano, Texas, a line has been formed. A line to see a movie coming out in two weeks. I'm of course talking about the final chapter in the Star Wars saga: Revenge of the Sith. "But why would anyone do such a thing??" you may ask? Simple. To have FUN! Some people just don't get why anyone would actually camp out at a theater to get a good place in line for only a movie. This is the final chapter: the FINAL movie! It's one thing to stand in line to get a good spot in the theater to see your favorite movie, but this is the last Star Wars movie to be made. It completes the trilogy. It's a big deal. Not only is it for the movie, it's for a good cause. The line is also for charity.

But the problem is not the die-hard fans. The problem is hecklers. Yes, it is inevitable, that a bunch of Star Wars geeks lining up 2 weeks in advance and even camping out to see the movie will be made fun of. Sure, we realize that. But what you don't realize is that you are exposing your inner weakness by heckling others. It's a matter of self esteem. When you have to talk down to people to feel good about yourself, you obviously have self esteem issues. If you can't feel good about yourself without making others feel bad, then you need to re-think your people skills. Hey, you made fun of those dorks waiting in line! Good for you! You deserve a high five. Next time you think about heckling someone, think about this. Would you ever have the nerve to wait in line like these fans do? No? Then there's something we have over you. We're secure enough with who we are to go out and have some fun and hang out with friends for a good cause. Some comments are: "You're going to wait in line for two weeks straight?" As if we don't have lives. Geez, you're a smart one. Save your childish comments for your momma. We certainly don't want to hear it.

The Poker pusher

I love poker. As with much of the nation, the poker bug has hit me hard. I don't gamble with money. I know better! That's what chips are for, and there's no better place to buy poker chips than pokerbargains.com. I love that site! They have a gaggle of chip designs that look great, and are far cheaper than most other sellers. You also get great value for the money.
Also, it's nice that there's almost always a poker championship on TV these days. The only drawback is all that chip shuffling. For crying out loud, STOP IT!!! It's bad enough that I can't do that, but at least don't make everyone hear all that unnecessary clickety clack!
Next thing you know, I will have bought a poker table to quench my incessant appetite to get out the cards and start shuffling. Anyone up for a few rounds of Texas Hold 'em?

He can do no wrong

William Shatner gets funnier every time I see him. As the spokesman for Priceline.com, he has been a crucial part of their success. The commercials produced for priceline are just too darn good. The latest involves Shatner asking a shopping woman what she's doing, and the woman tells him she is comparing before she buys. "Brilliant!" he says.

He knows what kind of actor he is. He knows how campy his style of acting is. He rolls with it. He makes it brilliant. I figured I'd be tired of it by now, but it just seems to get funnier every time. Of course, nothing beats seeing Shatner in small red pumps. Watch the commercial. You'll know what I mean! ;)

Hackers unite!

It's time you put your computer skills to good use. It takes a good deal of brains to hack into very secure systems, and there are many good hackers out there, plaguing our computers with viruses that infect and destroy. This time, we're calling on you to do one good thing in your life. Help protect our country! Send your viruses to the websites that promote jihad and American hatred. Instead of sending email viruses through Joe Schmoe's Hewlett Packard, why not infect terror-supported sites? Why not send a nasty little comp killer to all those nasty little losers who post those videos showing Americans getting shot point blank in the head. Why not stop them from glorifying their futile little holy war, and deny them the "42 virgins" they are supposed to get in heaven?

Just food for thought.